You can make these arguments about literally any prepackaged product. I’m not defending this ice, but come on. You can make anything yourself, so long as you have the equipment, time, and money. Paying for someone else to have done it for you is about convenience, and is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

If you’re into making fancy ice, then you can get into making your own purified water using complete combustion. If you’re into making purified water with complete combustion then can get into making your own hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. If you’re into making your own hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen then you can get into making your own universe.

I have a very well stocked home bar and enjoy making fancy cocktails. My tiny ass freezer barely has room for the 5lb bag of ice I keep in there, let alone space for a fuckin mini cooler to make clear ice in. I also lack prep space to carve ice in my kitchen. You can make fancy drinks without fancy ice. It'll still taste the sam, it just won't look as pretty in the glass

One step at a time

you can also freeze the ice in an insulated container with no lid. that makes air bubbles and impurities collect at the bottom, after which you can cut that part off.

This is overly complicated.

The practical answer is directional freezing. Put the mold for the thing you want to be clear in a small cooler (or buy an insulated mold thing), be sure there is a hole in the bottom, fill it with water and put it in your deep freezer. Voilà clear ice for whatever purpose.

You don't need to agitate it or boil it or use special water, just use tap water and the right set up and it works fine.

Isn't this the reason for using hot water to make ice?

You obviously haven't actually tried it, else you wouldn't write this, so why talk?

It's not hard, it just isn't particularly efficient or convenient. The standard method is to use a bunch more water that you want to become actual ice, make it in large insulated blocks, then chop at the end. I have a little insulated tray that makes two at a time. They come out pretty clear, but at least half the water used is essentially waste to create a clear cube. The top half being still ice, but full of little bubbles, not clear. If I was throwing a party, as people are want to do on summer weekends, and I wanted many many big clear ice cubes then I'd seriously consider buying a box load.

To get clear ice you have to freeze it slowly, basically just at the freezing mark (32°C/0°F) which is a warmer temperature than most people have their freezer set to. It's not difficult in an objective sense, it just requires rubbing a couple of brain cells together and a tiny morsel of effort which is apparently more than a lot of people can muster.

No. You need to freeze in in an insulated container with only one side exposed so it all freezes in 1 direction. Impurities get pushed to the opposite side and you are left with clear ice.

Believe it or not some of us like pretty things to enjoy for ourselves, not to put on social media.

And big clear ice melts more consistently in a way that better maintains coldness longer while maintaining a slower pace of dilution. It does make a difference to flavor.

I'd view it as handy thermal mass, useful when shipping other frozen items.

That box is a bit easier to stack than a bag of ice like most other grocery stores have.

And much more expensive.